


Duty

by SailorSol



Category: seaQuest
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-20
Updated: 2012-09-20
Packaged: 2017-11-14 16:17:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/pseuds/SailorSol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duty called, but no one had been there to answer.</p>
<p>Season 3, tag to "In the Company of Ice and Profit"; Jonathan goes to talk to Ben.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duty

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting on my hard drive for a while now; I'd intended to do a whole miniseries thing, and maybe that will still happen, but for now, I figured I'd share this.

Jonathan found Ben standing by the moon pool, leaning forward with his arms resting on the edge as Darwin swam in circles, both of them surprisingly silent. He thought Ben might have turned the vocorder off at first, but Darwin wasn’t even chittering, so there was nothing to translate.

“Come to mock how far I’ve fallen, Commander?” Ben asked. He didn’t even turn around as he said the words. Jonathan wasn’t sure how Ben had known it was him, but Ben usually had a good sense of his surroundings. It probably came in handy when he was trying not to get caught at one of his schemes.

“No,” Jonathan replied. He kept his distance, a few paces back, giving Ben his space. They hadn’t been friends, precisely, but Jonathan felt an odd sort of responsibility towards Ben. By his own timeline, it had been just over a year since they’d worked together; it was longer, for Ben, who hadn't even been in the Navy all those years. He didn't owe Ben anything, but he'd still felt the need to seek him out and talk to him.

“I’m surprised. I recall you used to never pass up an opportunity to rub my face in my mistakes.” Now Ben did turn, one hip leaning against the edge of the moon pool, arms crossed defensively over the faded _seaQuest_ coveralls.

He looked tired, a weariness in his stance and around his eyes that Jonathan wasn’t used to seeing. It was just another harsh reminder of ten years lost. “I didn’t come here to lecture you, Krieg,” he replied.

Ben snorted. “Then what?” He continued before Jonathan could reply. “Oh, I know. Don’t worry, Commander, I’ll be off your boat soon enough and you’ll never have to clean up my messes ever again.”

Jonathan frowned. “What happened to you, Ben?”

Ben glanced away, back towards Darwin, who had come to the edge of the pool, head bobbing on the surface. “Life happened,” he finally replied. “And you were right about me all along.”

He wasn’t sure what to say to that; Ben certainly hadn’t been one of the easiest people to work with, but he had always come through in a pinch. Jonathan thought they’d parted on fairly good terms, when Ben had made the decision to retire from the Navy. “The Ben Krieg I knew—“

Ben interrupted him with a sharp laugh. “The Ben Krieg you knew? Sorry to burst your bubble, Commander, but the Ben Krieg you knew is a relic.”

“And yet you’re still wearing your coveralls from your time on _seaQuest_ ,” Jonathan pointed out. “Your problem was never about caring, Krieg, except sometimes when you cared too damn much,” he added. His tone was sharper than he’d intended, and the shift in Ben’s stance, his shoulders setting a little straighter, chin titling up just a bit, showed Jonathan that they were both falling into their old roles of superior and subordinate. He was still leaning against the moon pool, though, that touch of insolence that had always annoyed Jonathan.

“Ah, see, there’s the Jonathan Ford I remember,” Ben replied. “Always ready to point out my character flaws for the world to see.”

“Damn it, Krieg,” Jonathan snapped. “I just want to help you.”

He wasn’t sure if that was anger or betrayal or something else that flashed through Ben’s eyes, but he was standing straight, now, hands balled into fists at his sides. “I don’t need your help,” he replied.

“You need _someone’s_ help,” Jonathan said.

“Go feed that crap to Lucas. I’m sure he’ll still believe it,” Ben said. “Ben Krieg works alone.”

Jonathan wanted to take him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him, but he was starting to realize that maybe Ben was a lost cause. Ten years was a long time to build up walls, and Jonathan just didn’t have the footing to try and take them down. He still felt like he owed it to his former colleague to try, though. “You don’t have to, Ben. You’ve got friends who are willing to help you.”

“No, Commander, my friends died ten years ago,” Ben said. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check on my people.”

Jonathan didn’t have a chance to say anything more before Ben left, leaving Jonathan alone with Darwin.

“Ben sad,” Darwin said. Jonathan moved to the edge of the moon pool and leaned forward, petting Darwin on the head.

“Yeah, I know,” Jonathan said. He sighed softly. “We really dropped the ball with him.”

Darwin chittered something, but the vocorder didn’t translate it. Maybe it was the same sense of failure Jonathan was feeling. All their worlds had been turned upside down when _seaQuest_ had vanished, but Jonathan hadn’t stopped to consider how it might have affected the crew of the first boat. He’d have to make a point to check up on some of the others.

In the meantime, he’d just have to make sure he did right by those still on his crew.


End file.
